McPherson High School
McPherson, Kansas
Teacher: Robin Long
My Contribution Toward The Community
By Jeremiah Lucero
12th Grade
My [attitude] toward littering is [extreme]…. I actually sometimes tell people to pick up the trash they [dropped]. What can I say? It is very, very bad pet peeve of mine. I’m really responsible about situations like [littering], I mean come on, does anyone want the atmosphere to be completely destroyed and have global warming that pretty much leads to the end of the world?
Global warming is pretty much what happened in the movie Ice Age 2: The Great Melt Down. I…want to have kids before that ever happens. When my second grade teacher told our class that there is a hole in the atmosphere, I totally freaked out. I actually went up to the teacher and asked how could I help. She told me I could collect cans. I was thinking it would be fun. Then she told me I could make some bucks, so I was game for it. Considering I picked up two to three trash bags full of cans and only got ten dollars, I still felt good that I had helped out.
First one of my other contributions came from youth group. I attend the Pre Methodist Church. …Last spring, we [went] door-to-door asking…people if they would donate money to the food bank. The [solicitation] went very well actually. I remember our youth group leader told us we made more than he ever thought we would make. During Christmas we sing carols to the elderly at the Cedars. It makes a person, [especially] me, feel good when I help sing carols. I’ve attended three years in a row. We also would set out sugar cookies, eggnog, candy canes, regular milk and other cookies. It has been worth it every year to watch [the older residents] enjoy our visit. [It] makes me warm inside thinking about it. [It didn’t hurt that I got to] take a couple cookies and a cup of eggnog, and maybe a couple of candy canes for the road.
My feelings toward our community today [is] not so great…. [Actually] I’m neutral toward it. [There are] people out there that will help...and there are people that just litter all the time…. I see at least two to three Styrofoam cups a day lying around. ...Everywhere there is graffiti in McPherson. Every railroad car has graffiti on it.
But the biggest problem is oil spills. [There is] a huge oil plant in the ocean very close to the shores of Florida. If they start pumping it out, oil will destroy the shores of Florida and wipe out the tourist…areas…. Florida is going to let [this happen]…because if we pumped that big oil plant we won’t have to depend on [other nations] for oil. …[Pumping] will also kill most of the animals in the Gulf of Mexico. All in all it will be a very bad choice.
…People [need to] …share responsibilities. If everyone can help a little our world will shape up….